Abiraterone

Hi Spaceman,

I don't know if you have posted on this forum before or not but welcome from me anyway. I was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer on 9th March 2020, started on Prostap hormone injections right away and commenced Abiraterone + Prednisolone (they go together) on 28th April 2020. My PSA was 86 when I started and was 0.1 by 19th June 2020 and has stayed there ever since. I live in Scotland and benefit from the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) decision to allow newly diagnosed men with advanced prostate cancer access to Abiraterone. This is completely at odds with NICE in England, a complete travesty and disgrace towards the men suffering from PC in the rest of the UK and it really needs to be addressed.

As you can imagine I am more than pleased to be offered this drug as my first treatment plan, I have been told I will continue to be offered it until it stops working. I suffer from multiple side effects but I manage them ok with the medication prescribed from my Oncology team. They range from high blood pressure, hot flashes, fatigue, weight gain, breathlessness, low potassium levels, loss of sex drive. It may seem like a lot of side effects to contend with but remember, these are the side effects that I have, everyone is different and they may manifest in other ways for other men. I also have my bloods taken every month and I have an update from my consultant in Glasgow every 3 months now. The frequency of blood tests and updates were more regular just after I started on Abiraterone.

I suppose the question is: in hindsight if I had a choice, would I accept Abiraterone again? You betcha I would. I hope my experience of Abiraterone has been of some help and the thought of the side effects I deal with does not put you off. Please keep us up to date with your progress.

Take care, Tom.   

Hi Tom

Its great to hear from you and your experience with Abiraterone + the Prednisolone which I took whilst previously on chemotherapy. A side effect was water retention / swelling in my legs and I’m hoping this will not repeat. My oncology consultant has gotten to know me well over three and a half years and felt Abiraterone would be best suited to me, possibly as I am most concerned about fatigue and losing my good level of fitness. Will have to see how this pans out but I’m optimistic at being able to cope well. I will keep Abi progress updated, perhaps each month which can be seen in my Profile. Once again Tom, many thanks for being in touch, it’s so much appreciated and I wish everybody in the community the good support we share with each other.